Better Protect Your King
by Noelani618
Summary: Missing scene from 2x14 "Payback". Keller hears some rumors and plans for the next chess game with Neal. "It was there on the helicopter pad when he was arrested Keller realized he'd mistaken a king for a pawn."  Part 2 now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Better Protect Your King**

by Noelani618

Tag to _White Collar_ 2x14: "Payback"

Summary: Keller hears some rumors and plans for the next chess game with Neal.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's Jeff Eastin's creation and I'm just borrowing. I'm also not a chess player so please forgive any errors.

This is not beta'd so all mistakes are mine.

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He kept his ear to the ground, constantly listening for chatter of Neal Caffrey's activities. Matthew Keller hated losing. He fully intended to beat Caffrey in the second round. And to do that he needed to learn all he could about the younger man's activities as a leashed convict working for the FBI. So he asked around, put out feelers, and information slowly started trickling in. Caffrey had apparently worked out a deal of some kind with a dirty OPR agent and had tried to leave New York. Only the plane he was to leave on exploded. Kate had been on board. Keller briefly felt a pinch of sadness that the lovely woman was dead. She had been rather exquisite, and far from the angel Caffrey imagined her to be. But there were more women in the world, and Keller didn't concern himself anymore with Caffrey's fool girl.

The only reason Caffrey had not died with her was thanks to the interference of special agent Peter Burke. Burke, on suspension for clocking the dirty FBI agent, tracked Caffrey down at the hanger and had been trying to convince Caffrey to stay when the plane exploded. Keller scoffed. Caffrey was weak and had no doubt been torn. He remembered the way the young con had gone and stood next to the agent in Grace Quinn's wine cellar. There was something between the agent and con, something Keller could now work to his advantage. Neal actually _trusted_ the FBI agent. It went against everything Neal Caffrey stood for as a forger and con man. Trusting law enforcement was a one-way ticket to prison. Yet it was different between Agent Burke and Neal Caffrey.

So he did his homework and really looked into Special Agent Peter Burke. That had been one of his biggest mistakes during the last game. He had taken a preliminary look into the agent's record and had been unsurprised to learn that the man was a good agent with a high closure record. He'd caught Neal Caffrey after all. Nothing new to see there. Just another lawman for Keller to tweak. And Keller had worked the man's devotion to the law to his advantage, until Caffrey and Burke turned the tables on him.

It was there on the helicopter pad when he was arrested Keller realized he'd mistaken a king for a pawn.

Peter Burke made his moves carefully and one at a time. He never moved recklessly or into a position that would lead to his "capture". Burke was initially weak, useless even, until the endgame when the man proved dangerous in his own right. He shot that OPR agent when he drew a gun on one of Burke's people, Keller heard, even when he was suspended. The OPR agent had been wearing a vest, however, and survived the shooting only to disappear into the underworld after being turned over to the Washington authorities. That incident alone told Keller that Burke was far more dangerous then his initial impression. The agent was a natural leader and there was no mistaking the authority the man carried, even when he acted non-assuming. His sources informed him Burke rarely exercised it to the full extent, unless he was keeping Caffrey out of prison. For the most part Burke seemed content to let his pet con move on his own, offering guidance when he felt it was needed.

As it were, Caffrey had been sent back to prison after the plane explosion, but Burke had managed to get him back out on his two-mile leash. From his sources, Keller heard Caffrey had also lost control several months later when he chased down the dirty OPR agent he believed responsible for Kate's death. But again, Burke stepped in and saved him. That was when Keller knew for sure.

A king was better at defending his knights and pawns; he was more effective then a bishop when he attacked. And that was why Keller would set a trap from Peter Burke that would allow him to beat Caffrey.

Capture the king and the game was over. And Keller knew who the king was now. The queen had been eliminated and soon the king would follow.

Keller smirked as he set up his chessboard for his new game.

"You'd better protect your king, Caffrey. Because I'm coming for him."

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Its far from perfect, but I wanted to post this before the season finale. =) So what do you guys think? I have a second part planned in my head based on Neal's POV but I don't think it will be done by Tuesday night. Would anybody be interested in reading a second part?

Happy Monday! Its almost Tuesday! =D


	2. Chapter 2

**Better Protect Your King**

by Noelani618

Extended scene to _White Collar_ 2x14: "Payback"

Summary: Neal Caffrey used to view life as a game.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Note: First of all, thank you sooo much to all my reviewers! I was blown away by the response I got. Thank you. :) Second, my deepest apologies for the lateness of this. I hope ya'll enjoy this second part.

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Part 2

Neal Caffrey used to view life as a game. Sometimes a game of poker, sometimes a game of dares, and sometimes a game of chess. He didn't much care for the chess analogy, unless he was the Mastermind. If he had to be a piece, Neal liked to consider himself a knight. Knights could only move diagonally across the board, like him. Neal worked sideways and loopholes with the law. Knights were also traditionally noble, protectors. Chivalrous. Traits Neal prided himself on possessing.

Then Special Agent Peter Burke came into his life. After that things changed. Agent Burke proved to be an equal match for Neal at his games, eventually catching him and putting him in prison. Almost four years later, Agent Burke made a deal with Neal that put the young con back on the street and leashed him to the FBI. At first it was a means to an end—to find Kate—and simultaneously challenging himself. Four years in prison left Neal utterly bored. He needed something to keep his mind busy. Peter Burke was the perfect person to challenge him.

He had not intended on becoming Peter's friend. While he certainly liked Peter, respected his abilities, he had not expected to come to view the agent as more. Slowly, as they worked together on case after case, Neal started to care what Peter thought. He couldn't say for sure when it happened. Perhaps when Peter came back to the prison and gave him a chance. Or maybe when the agent allowed Neal to continuously intrude in his personal life. What Neal did know was that he was nervous when he had to tell Peter he took the Haustenberg painting and that Peter's disappointment stung. That wasn't as nearly as bad as the next case with Interpol.

"_This isn't a game, Neal_."

The look on Peter's face when he said that still unnerved him despite it being a memory. Peter was furious with him, especially when he discovered Neal had not told him everything about Mei Lin. Sitting on the couch at the Burke home while Peter paced up and down the living room was not pleasant. Neal had been genuinely scared and even a bit ashamed of what he had done. Then Peter called him his partner. Never ever had he'd been considered someone's partner, not like Peter considered him. It made him feel surprisingly good. After that disappointing Peter was something Neal tried very hard not to do. He hated it when Peter was disappointed in him. And Peter's stern warning about this not being a game stuck with him.

Of course, there was the game he and Peter played of keeping cards close to the vest, not revealing their full hand. But it was different somehow, though Neal found he couldn't really explain how. Maybe it was because Peter knew him so well and knew Neal wouldn't tell him everything. In turn, Peter never revealed how much he actually knew until he decided to let Neal know, and Neal knew that too. Maybe it was the mutual respect they shared and the level of trust developing between them. Either way, the game between himself and Peter was nothing at all like the games Neal used to play, or even the one Keller was now playing.

It was only driven home when Kate died that the games were on. In a game, people didn't die or get hurt. Life wasn't a game and, for the first time, Neal truly understood that.

Being dragged into Keller's game reminded him of the stakes. Peter had been taken. _Peter_. He'd seen his partner—his best friend—held at gunpoint, a black bag pulled over his head, and shoved into a van. Neal hadn't been close enough to help despite how hard and fast he ran.

Keller's smug words rang in his mind long after Neal hung up Peter's phone. "_You lost a key piece, Caffrey. You stop playing, and Peter Burke is dead._"

In that moment Neal hated Keller more then he had ever hated anyone. How dare Keller treat Peter like he was nothing but a mere chess piece!

Neal set his jaw grimly, hailing a taxi. He was going to get Peter back, no matter the cost to himself. That was the job of the knight, after all. He may have failed Kate, but he was not going to fail Peter.

_Isaac Asimov once said: "In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate."_


End file.
